[ad_1]
Yofi Grant, CEO of Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC)
Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) Managing Director Yofi Grant revealed that Ghana is expected to generate $ 3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2021.
He told reporters on the sidelines of the annual GIPC Investment Summit dubbed # SparkUp2021! Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
He said that the income will come from the agricultural sector and also from infrastructure, among others.
“In the middle of the year, despite the weak position of UNCTAD [the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development], we see some very interesting numbers. In the first half of the year, a total of 122 projects (ie 94 new projects and 28 existing upstream projects) attracted foreign direct investment of $ 829 million, ”he said.
“This gives a 32.15% increase over what we saw in the first half of 2020, which was $ 627 million.”
Last year, Ghana saw a sharp increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, recording an impressive $ 2.6 billion in inward investment for the year.
The trend has defied the expected sharp decline in FDI inflows as a second wave of COVID 19 infections threatened to cripple the Ghanaian economy.
A report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development placed the pandemic-induced decline in global FDI at 42%. However, the decline was very uneven across developing regions: -37% in Latin America and the Caribbean, -18% in Africa and -4% in developing countries in Asia.
While Ghana initially experienced a plateau in FDI inflows during the first wave of infection and subsequent lockdowns, investments made good progress thanks to government policy responses to mitigate the impact of the pandemic of health on businesses.
Total investment inflows thus peaked at US $ 2,796.49 million in 2020, with a total FDI value of US $ 2,650.97 million for Ghana. The value of FDI of US $ 2,650.97 million illustrates a significant increase of 139.06% over the value of FDI of US $ 1,108.93 million recorded in 2019.
With the considerable influx of investments, some 279 projects were registered during the year. This included 129 newly registered projects, 131 upstream developments and 19 free zone activities – scattered across eight regions, with Greater Accra recording the highest number of 231 projects. In total, some 27,110 jobs are expected to be generated by the aforementioned registered projects.
For the year under review, some countries which stood out as the country’s main sources of foreign investment are China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands.
In terms of sectoral investment allocation, the manufacturing sector with 57 projects recorded the highest FDI value of US $ 1,270.53 million. Next come the service and mining sectors with FDI values of US $ 656.19 million and US $ 424.32 million respectively.
Nationally, additional equity (cash and property) totaling US $ 69.28 million was reinvested in 172 already existing companies, while GHC 1,438.91 million was raised from 52 all-Ghanaian companies.
While this trend of Ghana’s strong inward FDI performance amid the global health pandemic can be attributed to a combination of factors, including effective government policy responses, a relaxation of travel restrictions and, more importantly, the delivery and expected future development of vaccines in the country, the GIPC’s notable efforts as a leading investment promotion agency have also played a central role in attracting investors.
Additionally, as Ghana enters an era of trade liberalization under AFCFTA, the Center is further committed to building investor confidence and ultimately leveraging valuable investments for the Ghana, now the business capital of Africa.
Source link
